Oil burner blower housing



April 13, 1943. L. I. ALDRICH 2,316,542

OIL BURNER BLOWER HOUSING Filed Sept. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR.

April 1943. I. ALDVRICH 2,316,542

OIL BURNER BLOWER HOUSING Filed Sept. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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Patented Apr. 13, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OIL BURNER BLOWER HOUSING Loyd I. Aldrich, Wyoming, Ill.

Application September 8, 1941, Serial No. 410,008

3 Claims.

My present invention relates to a fabricated oil burner blower housing and the process of fabricating the same, the housing being capable of production from cast iron or other suitable cast metal.

One object of the invention is to provide a blower housing for oil burners and the like-which may be inexpensively made from cast iron in two halves so as to eliminate a core in the casting process, the housing being so designed and being so welded as to eliminate cracking of the metal during the welding operation.

Another object is to provide a blower housing that may be formed of cast iron in two halves and a process of welding the halves together so that there is a substantially air-tight joint between the two halves without the disadvantage of possible cracking of the housing halves after the welding operation due to uneven contraction of the cast iron and the welding material deposited thereon.

Still another object is to provide housing halves which are welded together at only spaced intervals yet which present a substantially air-tight housing when the fabrication process is completed, due to a coplanar fit between the meeting edges of the housing halves.

Still another object is to weld the burner housing halves together in such manner that the possibility of cracking is eliminated by the use of a welding material having a low coefficient of expansion, such as stainless steel.

A further object is to provide a process of fabrlcating oil burner blower housings and the like which consists of casting the two halves of the housing, grinding the meeting edges thereof so as to secure a substantially air-tight fit between them when they are pressed together, pressing them together and then welding the two halves together along the meeting edges inside the housing.

Although the invention. is susceptible of a variety of embodiments, and the process may varied in some details, it is unnecessary to fully describe and illustrate more than one embodiment and one form that the process may take in order to give a full understanding of the invention, both from the structural and functional standpoints and from the standpoint of fabrication according to the method that I employ. Accordingly, I have illustrated a preferred and desirable embodiment of the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of an oil burner including a blower housing fabricated in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the blower housing, showing the cast housing valves adjacent each other.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the adjacent edges of the blower housing halves of Figure 3, indicating by dot-and-dash lines how the meeting edges are ground down to plane-like formation.

Figure 5 shows the meeting edges after they are ground and pressed together and after the welding operation has been completed; and

Figure 6 is a sectional View similar to Figure 3, showing the completed blower housing.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral it) to indicate a supporting base on which a gun-type oil burner is mounted. The oil burner has a blower housing indicated generally at B and a blast tube indicated at 12. A motor i3 is provided in the usual manner for rotating blower blades (not shown) within the housing B and for operating a fuel pump it. The fuel pump I4 is operable to pump fuel under pressure to a nozzle l5 where the fuel is atomized and fed with the air under blower pressure into the combustion chamber of a furnace. Ordinarily, of course, ignition mechanism is also provided, but since it forms no part of my present invention I have not illustrated it.

Heretofore, blower housings of the general kind shown at B have been formed of die castings, steel stampings and the like. They have also been formed of cast metal in one piece, which is comparatively expensive, as it requires a core in the casting operation. Stamped steel housings have been formed with overlapping edges, spotwelded together. In order, however, to provide an inexpensive housing which can be made in two halves to eliminate the expense of a core, and which can be formed of cast iron so that it is not as expensive as steel or die casting metal, I have evolved a process of fabricating the burner housing when made in two halves, which involves welding the housings together in a manner that is satisfactory, even though the housing halves are formed of cast iron. According to my process, the blower halves indicated at 15 and l! are first cast as in Figure 3, and, obviously, may be cast without the use of cores. The blower housing halves are cast with meeting edges, indicated at l8, which, of course, are rough, due to being cast. The patterns for the housing halves l6 and I7 are so formed that beveled edges are also provided at I9.

After the housing halves I6 and I! have been cast they are surfaced along the meeting edges 48 as to the lines indicated at 20 in Figure 4 by machining or grinding. I find that grinding is a less expensve operation, and insures a smoother surface at 2fl. The surfaces 20 are then brought together, as in Figure 5, and preferably held together under pressure by means of clamps or a suitable jig, after which welding material 2| is deposited in the groove formed by the beveled edges [9. Due to the nature of cast iron, it is very difiicult to weld without cracking. I have found, however, that by using stainless steel as a welding material, and depositing the welding material only at spaced intervals, as shown in Figure 6, I am not troubled with cracking the cast iron. For instance, the welding 2| may be formed in sections about two inches long, and the sections spaced about two inches apart. Thus the entire extent of the meeting edges is not heated, and, accordingly, objectionable cracking and warping is eliminated. I have also found that electric or arc welding is more satisfactory in my process than acetylene welding.

Due to the meeting faces 2! being ground, they fit tight enough after the welded housing has cooled to minimize air leakage so that only tack welding at spaced points is necessary to hold the blower housing halves rigidly assembled together with a neat appearing joint on the outer surface, and with the welding material entirely hidden from view within the blower housing. The result is a form of butt-welding which may be used in connection with the fabrication of blower housings and a resulting product of much less cost than die-cast or other forms of housings.

My fabricated oil burner blower housing and its process of fabrication have been described in the foregoing specification and illustrated in the drawings more or less precisely as to details. It is to be understood, however, that changes may be made in the arrangement and proportions of parts, the steps of the process may be varied somewhat and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an oil burner blower housing, a pair of housing halves formed of cast iron having ground coplanar meeting surfaces, the inner edges of said surfaces being beveled, said housing halves having portions arc-welded together at said beveled edges said portions being periodically spaced along said beveled edges and the welding material being stainless steel.

2. A fabricated oil burner blower housing comprising a pair of housing halves provided with meeting edges of smooth, plane-like formation, and deposited welding material inside said halves and connecting them together.

3. In an oil burner blower housing, a pair of housing halves formed of cast iron having ground coplanar meeting surfaces, welding material at said surfaces and located at periodically spaced points therealong to prevent cracking of the housing due to uneven contraction of the cast iron and the welding material.

LOYD I. ALDRICH. 

